NEW YORK — The executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America has unanimously approved a resolution that would end the organization’s blanket ban on gay adult leaders and let individual Scout units set their own policy on the long-divisive issue. Units sponsored by churches opposed to the change could maintain the ban if they choose.

NEW YORK — Graphic videos have surfaced previously that kindled outrage over police use of force — the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles, last year’s chokehold death in New York City. The new video from South Carolina is perhaps the most striking yet — its depiction of a fleeing, unarmed black man being shot in the back by a white policeman so vivid that a murder charge came swiftly.

NEW YORK — While many liberal policy goals have proved elusive during Barack Obama's presidency, there have been dramatic advances for two causes that once seemed quixotic — the legalization of same-sex marriage and the decriminalization of marijuana.

Neither cause was embraced by Obama during his first term. Yet he is now a fervent supporter of marriage equality and has said it is "important" that Colorado and Washington state be allowed to proceed with their pioneering laws, approved by voters in 2012, that legalize marijuana.

One year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a pair of landmark rulings, one striking down the statute that denied federal recognition to same-sex marriages and the other clearing the way for gay couples to wed legally in California.

In the 12 months since then, the ripple effects of those rulings have transformed the national debate over same-sex marriage, convincing many people on both sides that its spread nationwide is inevitable.

NEW YORK — The number of foreign children adopted by U.S. parents plunged by 18 percent last year to the lowest level since 1992, due in part to Russia’s ban on adoptions by Americans. Adoptions from South Korea and Ethiopia also dropped sharply.

Figures released Friday by the U.S. State Department for the 2013 fiscal year showed 7,094 adoptions from abroad, down from 8,668 in 2012 and down about 69 percent from the high of 22,884 in 2004. The number has dropped every year since then.

NEW YORK — Given the friction and financial woes facing the Girl Scouts these days, perhaps it’s time for a giant friendship circle. Under that long-standing tradition, a ring of Scouts clasp hands and give a little squeeze, accompanied by a silent wish of good will.

It promises to be a campaign as passionate and dramatic as any big election. For the next 14 weeks, the Boy Scouts of America will be the focus of prayers, petitions and pressure tactics aimed at swaying a vote on whether to ease its ban on gays as Scouts or adult leaders.

The decision will be made the week of May 20 by the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA’s National Council. The policy was supposed to be settled Wednesday by the Scouts’ 70-member national executive board, but the board concluded the issue was so complex that the organization needed more time to study it.

NEW YORK — The killing of Osama bin Laden during a raid by Navy SEALs on his hideout in Pakistan was the top news story of 2011, followed by Japan’s earthquake/tsunami/meltdown disaster, according to The Associated Press’ annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors.

SAN DIEGO — A federal court is being asked to grant constitutional rights to five killer whales who perform at marine parks — an unprecedented and perhaps quixotic legal action that is nonetheless likely to stoke an ongoing, intense debate at America’s law schools over expansion of animal rights.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is accusing the SeaWorld parks of keeping five star-performer whales in conditions that violate the 13th Amendment ban on slavery. SeaWorld depicted the suit as baseless.